2014 Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 1 - 500 of 1250
Date: December 31, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3811
Justia Opinion Summary: Borostowski pled guilty to receiving child pornography, five counts of distributing child pornography, and three counts of possessing child pornography, reserving his right to appeal denial of motions to suppress. The…
Date: December 31, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1464
Justia Opinion Summary: Jonas and his wife purchased life insurance: each owned the policy on his or her life, with the other as beneficiary. When they divorced, the court reassigned ownership: Troy owned the policy on Jennifer’s life. Each…
Date: December 30, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1812
Justia Opinion Summary: Hayden, a California resident, obtained a medical marijuana card and purchased high-grade marijuana in California. He mailed it to himself in St. Louis. A coconspirator sold it in Illinois. While surveilling Hayden as…
Date: December 30, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2276
Justia Opinion Summary: A citizen of Mexico, Duarte entered the U.S. without inspection in 2000. In 2011, after he was acquitted of heroin trafficking, DHS issued a Notice to Appear. Duarte did not appear. A removal order issued. Duarte claimed…
Date: December 29, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1510
Justia Opinion Summary: Sykes pleaded guilty to participation in a bank fraud scheme, 18 U.S.C. 1344, and was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment. The district court determined that her total offense level was 23 and that her criminal history…
Date: December 24, 2014
Docket Numbers: 14-2507, 14-1683
Justia Opinion Summary: The class action suit, filed about 19 years ago, claimed that a defined‐contribution ERISA pension plan in which the employer matched contributions made by its employees was partially terminated, requiring vesting. After…
Date: December 23, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1475
Justia Opinion Summary: Bell sued attorney Ruben and his firm, alleging that they negligently and fraudulently mismanaged her trust, causing a loss of $34 million. Before arbitration, Ruben filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Bell filed an…
Date: December 23, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1634
Justia Opinion Summary: Maurer visited a Speedway gas station convenience store near her home. It was where she regularly purchased gasoline. After parking in front of the store, Maurer walked along the sidewalk to its front entrance. A…
Date: December 22, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2470
Justia Opinion Summary: Cano, a citizen of Mexico, entered the U.S. without authorization in 2002. He pled guilty in Wisconsin state court in 2011 to operating a vehicle to flee or elude a police officer. About a year later, the Department of…
Date: December 22, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3054
Justia Opinion Summary: After the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs determined Evans was no longer competent to manage his veterans’ benefits, it appointed his daughter as the federal fiduciary. The VA later terminated her appointment and…
Date: December 22, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1375
Justia Opinion Summary: MileagePlus, United’s frequent flyer program, rewards customers with free flights and seat upgrades. Its Rules have always allowed United to change the terms of the program unilaterally, without notice. In 1997 United…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1417
Justia Opinion Summary: Clark entered a credit union wearing a two‐tone baseball hat and sunglasses, walked out, and got into his blue Ford Crown Victoria. Days later, a man fitting Clark’s description robbed a bank wearing a two‐tone baseball…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2648
Justia Opinion Summary: Nelson entered into a plea agreement to charges of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1341, admitting that he masterminded a Ponzi scheme in which he falsely promised investors that he would put their money into real estate and…
Date: December 19, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1365
Justia Opinion Summary: Morjal sued Chicago and individual police officers under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging unlawful search and seizure, excessive force, conspiracy, false imprisonment, assault and malicious prosecution. Morjal accepted an offer…
Date: December 18, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3057
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008 Motorola agreed to make a good-faith effort to purchase two percent of its cell-phone user-manual needs from Druckzentrum, a printer based in Germany. After a year, Motorola’s sales contracted sharply. Motorola…
Date: December 17, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2018
Justia Opinion Summary: Stuhlmacher’s parents purchased a ladder from Home Depot so that their son, Kurt, a millwright technician, could work on the roof of a cabin he was building for them in Indiana. Kurt was using the ladder for the first…
Date: December 16, 2014
Docket Numbers: 12-3143, 12-3142, 12-2853
Justia Opinion Summary: Sierra Club challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s decisions to redesignate three geographic areas—Milwaukee-Racine, Greater Chicago, and the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area—as having attained the 1997…
Date: December 16, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3673
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Other charges were dismissed. Jones qualified for the safety valve and retroactive amendment to the USSG, resulting in a 46-month sentence, followed by five…
Date: December 11, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1875
Justia Opinion Summary: A Marion, Indiana small claims court entered a judgment against Kevin about $1,000. He did not pay, although he had agreed to the judgment’s entry. Almost 20 years later Steel, claiming to represent the judgment…
Date: December 10, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2070
Justia Opinion Summary: Ripberger, born in 1951, began working for IDOC as a substance abuse counselor in 1991. She lost her job in 2010, when IDOC contracted out its counseling program to Corizon. Ripberger alleges that Corizon’s decision not…
Date: December 9, 2014
Docket Numbers: 13-3537, 13-3283
Justia Opinion Summary: Chicago’s Minority and Women-owned Procurement Program requires companies contracting with the city to hire or subcontract with minority-owned businesses (MBEs). An MBE must be at least 51 percent owned by members of a…
Date: December 9, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1970
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a long-standing local ordinance, the City of Plymouth, Indiana pays its police officers “longevity pay” after each work anniversary, calculated by multiplying $225 by the number of years that the officer has…
Date: December 9, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2191
Justia Opinion Summary: Accretive provides cost control, revenue cycle management, and compliance services to non-profit healthcare providers. Accretive and Fairview entered into a Revenue Cycle Operations Agreement (RCA), accounting for about…
Date: December 5, 2014
Docket Numbers: 12-1880, 12-1630
Justia Opinion Summary: Price took numerous sexually explicit photographs of his daughter when she was between the ages of 10 and 12. He put some on the Internet; those have been implicated in at least 160 child pornography investigations.…
Date: December 5, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2046
Justia Opinion Summary: The Nelsons sued Chicago law firm Freeborn & Peters for malpractice, seeking $1.3 million in damages and were awarded more than $1 million. The malpractice claim arose from a transaction that the law firm handled…
Date: December 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3624
Justia Opinion Summary: Herrmann’s application for Supplemental Security Income for benefits for the period before she turned 55 was rejected by an administrative law judge, but because of the less demanding showing of disability, she was…
Date: December 3, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3471
Justia Opinion Summary: In opening and closing arguments during his trial on three counts of tax evasion for failing to pay almost $239,400 in income tax between 2005 and 2007, 26 U.S.C. 7201, Stuart’s attorney argued that he believed he owed…
Date: December 3, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3383
Justia Opinion Summary: Grenadyor is a pharmacist formerly employed by Ukrainian Village Pharmacy, which with pharmacies that serve similar communities in other states (joined as additional defendants in this suit), is alleged to be controlled…
Date: December 2, 2014
Docket Numbers: 11-3519, 11-3627, 12-1016, 12-1290
Justia Opinion Summary: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives planned to recruit individuals to rob a fictional drug stash house. Agent Gomez acted as “Loquito,” a drug courier for a Mexican drug cartel, who was unhappy with…
Date: December 2, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2810
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006 Bey was convicted for making false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding and received a below-guidelines sentence of three months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed her conviction found that the sentence was too low…
Date: December 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3409
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Jenkins pled guilty in Illinois state court to one felony count of Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon, 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1). He received a sentence of probation. Following Jenkins’s conviction, both the…
Date: December 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3693
Justia Opinion Summary: Parker asserted that “Scheck Industries” had fired him after just a few months on the job because of his race and several complaints he made to management about workplace discrimination. The EEOC issued Parker a…
Date: December 1, 2014
Docket Number: 14-3057
Justia Opinion Summary: A Catholic school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, discharged a language-arts teacher because she underwent in vitro fertilization in violation of the moral teaching of the Catholic Church. She sued under Title VII of the Civil…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3641
Justia Opinion Summary: The Anderson Indiana Police Department received a tip from White that her previous housemate Boswell, a convicted felon, was in possession of firearms available for purchase. ATF agents planned a sting operation,…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3652
Justia Opinion Summary: Taylor-Novotny sued her former employer, Health Alliance Medical Plans under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101, the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), 29 U.S.C. 2601-2654, and Title VII of the…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3773
Justia Opinion Summary: JM Leasing purchased a brand‐new semi‐truck from PACCAR in 2007. Approximately four years and 3,000 miles later, JM concluded that the truck was a lemon and sought a refund from PACCAR under Wisconsin’s Lemon Law, Wis.…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1015
Justia Opinion Summary: Rockford Narcotics Unit Detective Jimenez obtained a warrant to search the upper apartment at 1522 Clifton for cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia. The affidavit stated that a “concerned citizen” called in that “1522…
Date: November 26, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2512
Justia Opinion Summary: An employer that withdraws from an underfunded pension plan must cover its share of the shortfall, 29 U.S.C. 1381, 1391. After concluding that Allega had withdrawn, the Central States Pension Fund sent it a bill for…
Date: November 25, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3735
Justia Opinion Summary: Whitaker, formerly employed by Milwaukee County, alleged that she was discriminated against in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101 when the county failed to accommodate her disability by…
Date: November 25, 2014
Docket Number: 14-3419
Justia Opinion Summary: For the second time, Croft sought the Seventh Circuit’s approval to pursue a successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254, relying primarily on the 2012 Supreme Court decision, Miller v. Alabama,…
Date: November 21, 2014
Docket Numbers: 14-1650, 14-1561
Justia Opinion Summary: Duckworth borrowed $1,100,000 from the State Bank of Toulon. The security agreement said that Duckworth granted the Bank a security interest in crops and farm equipment. The promissory note referred to the security…
Date: November 20, 2014
Docket Numbers: 14-1153, 14-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: Velazquez, indicted in 2008 on charges related to a fraudulent investment scheme, violated his bond just prior to his scheduled trial date and remained a fugitive for six months. Velazquez was apprehended and entered a…
Date: November 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1881
Justia Opinion Summary: Katsman, represented by an attorney, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. After she filed Schedule F, on which the debtor is required to list all entities holding unsecured claims, the trustee reported that no assets were…
Date: November 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2313
Justia Opinion Summary: Widmar worked as a plant manager for 16 years. The company’s National Manufacturing Manager, Roberts, terminated Widmar’s employment in November 2009, claiming that the company was unsatisfied with Widmar’s performance.…
Date: November 19, 2014
Docket Numbers: 14-1389, 14-1198, 13-1227, 13-1245
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants manufacture vitamins and nutritional supplements, including glucosamine pills, designed to help people with joint disorders, such as osteoarthritis. Several class action suits were filed under the Class Action…
Date: November 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2580
Justia Opinion Summary: The Strauss home in Mequon was built in 1994. They insured the home with policies issued by Chubb from October 1994 to October 2005. Water infiltrated and damaged the home through a defect present since the completion of…
Date: November 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3268
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, Shannon McNamara was killed in her college apartment. McNamara’s window screen was cut. A box cutter handle and a credit card bearing the name “Anthony Mertz” were found in the apartment. Mertz claimed that he…
Date: November 17, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3113
Justia Opinion Summary: When Keller was admitted to the Terre Haute Penitentiary, he told the intake psychologist, Bleier, that he suffered from mental illness that affected his ability to function and feared that he would be attacked if placed…
Date: November 14, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1317
Justia Opinion Summary: Applying for federal grants between 2005 and 2008, Chicago represented that it had formulated an Equal Employment Opportunity Plan in accordance with 28 C.F.R. 42.301. This certification is required by regulations…
Date: November 14, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: Keith, caring for 13-month-old Christopher, called 911 and stated that she had “killed a baby.” During a videotaped interview she admitted hitting Christopher to make him stop crying, lifting Christopher by his feet and…
Date: November 14, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1710
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff has a commercial driver’s license and drives school buses, but wanted to drive vehicles that ferry equipment and people involved in movie and television productions. In Chicago such drivers belong to the…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 11-2439
Justia Opinion Summary: Mayfield was indicted for conspiring with a coworker and a drug courier to rob a stash house controlled by the courier’s suppliers. The conspiracy was a setup; the drug courier was an undercover government agent and the…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2525
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2612
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Numbers: 12-2691, 12-2612, 12-2525
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006 Western Capital made a $2.77 million loan to finance a Chicago development, which failed. Western initiated foreclosure, resulting in allegations that Western had breached its contract, committed fraud, and…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2020
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former Chicago police officer, is black, and claimed racially motivated harassment, and retaliation for complaining about the harassment, in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act. While that suit was…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3301
Justia Opinion Summary: Several people interrogated by the infamous Jon Burge and other officers he trained or influenced sought damages under 42 U.S.C.1983. Between 1972 and 1991, while employed by Chicago’s police force, Burge regularly…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Numbers: 13-3730, 13-3535
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999 Seltzer registered the word “Kashwére” as a trademark for chenille soft goods. In 2009, Seltzer sold his company’s assets, including the trademark, to its principal officers. They formed TMG, which granted…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1152
Justia Opinion Summary: FFRF, a Wisconsin-based organization of atheists and agnostics, gives its co-presidents housing allowances. They paid income tax on that portion of their salaries. Neither sought to exclude this income on their tax…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1752
Justia Opinion Summary: Pyles, an Illinois prisoner, injured his back when he slipped on wet stairs at Menard Correctional Center. Pyles sometimes used those stairs when showering, and a month before his fall he had alerted the warden, Gaetz,…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1758
Justia Opinion Summary: Smith sued Greystone, a debt collector, alleging violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692–92p, and seeking statutory damages and compensatory damages for emotional distress. The district judge…
Date: November 13, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1867
Justia Opinion Summary: Brown, age 22, was in his Green Bay apartment with two friends, when there was knocking on his door and a yell of “police, search warrant!” As the police began to force open the front door, Brown ran upstairs to his…
Date: November 12, 2014
Docket Numbers: 13-3517, 13-3516, 13-3468, 13-3430, 13-3559
Justia Opinion Summary: Indiana’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles will not register or transfer a vehicle title unless the buyer furnishes a Social Security number. For corporations and similar entities, it requires a federal employer identification…
Date: November 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3638
Justia Opinion Summary: Thulin was a Shopko pharmacist. During his tenure, Thulin observed what he believed to be a scheme in which Shopko submitted inflated claims for prescription drugs to the Medicaid program. Thulin filed a qui tam…
Date: November 7, 2014
Docket Numbers: 13-1364, 13-1321
Justia Opinion Summary: Pine Top, an insurer, sued Banco, an entity wholly owned by Uruguay, claiming that Banco owes $2,352,464.08 under reinsurance contracts. The complaint sought to compel arbitration but alternately proposed that the court…
Date: November 7, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2331
Date: November 7, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3895
Justia Opinion Summary: Bowling was charged with strangulation (a felony), battery, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The matter was continued with an offer to dismiss the felony count in exchange for a plea of guilty to…
Date: November 7, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1371
Justia Opinion Summary: Winston sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that Officer O’Brien used excessive force while detaining Winston at a Chicago police station, tasering him repeatedly and punching him while he was in handcuffs. Winston’s…
Date: November 6, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1055
Justia Opinion Summary: The Chabad branch of Hasidic Judaism emphasizes mysticism over legalism. There are Chabad emissaries on many college campuses where they manage Chabad houses. Tannenbaum Chabad House, near Northwestern University’s…
Date: November 5, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3783
Justia Opinion Summary: Doe settled his sexual abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for $80,000 after participating in a voluntary mediation program. He later filed a claim against the Archdiocese in its bankruptcy proceedings for…
Date: November 5, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1063
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones was murdered, leaving no will. He owned a life insurance policy through his employer. He did not designate a beneficiary. The policy provided that the proceeds ($307,000) would go first to a surviving spouse (Jones…
Date: November 3, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3407
Justia Opinion Summary: The Everetts formerly operated a PDRI franchise. After that franchise was terminated, they violated a non-compete clause. Only Mr. Everett and the Everetts’ corporation actually signed the franchise agreement. PDRI…
Date: October 30, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1217
Justia Opinion Summary: Meade wrote a letter to the League for Innovation in the Community College about her employer, Moraine Valley Community College. Meade, an adjunct faculty member, alleged that poor treatment of adjuncts harmed students.…
Date: October 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3188
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Illinois State Police Officer Zeigler pulled over Mordi’s vehicle. A trained dog discovered drugs in the car. Zeigler arrested Mordi, took him to the station, and left him in an interrogation room. Other…
Date: October 28, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3336
Justia Opinion Summary: Welton buys, sells, and rents residential real estate and, from 1994-2001, maintained a collateralized line of credit with the NBI. In 2002, NBI declined to extend that line of credit and gave him 90 days to pay off the…
Date: October 28, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1277
Justia Opinion Summary: Hennessy, a car parts manufacturer, beset by asbestos-related personal injury claims, sought coverage by National Union. The companies entered into a cost sharing agreement in 2008. As claims occurred, Hennessy asked…
Date: October 27, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3257
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005 Greene and his wife had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and obtained a discharge from all their debts except federal student loan debt of $207,000. As part of the bankruptcy case they sought an order that the…
Date: October 27, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3543
Justia Opinion Summary: Hinds, with four coconspirators, obtained about 300 counterfeit credit and debit cards. The conspirators’ names were embossed on the front of the cards, but the cards were linked to accounts held by other account…
Date: October 27, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2223
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009 defendant was sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, as a felon in possession of a gun. After his 2011 release, he failed to submit to drug tests, to attend…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1375
Justia Opinion Summary: Smith was indicted for conspiring to distribute marijuana, 21 U.S.C. 841 and 846, purchasing a vehicle with currency derived from an unlawful activity, 18 U.S.C. 1957; concealing information with the intent to defraud…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Numbers: 13-2681, 13-2662
Justia Opinion Summary: After being caught in a 2011 ATF sting operation out of a Milwaukee warehouse, Wamiq was convicted of four counts of knowingly shipping, transporting, receiving, possessing, selling, distributing, or purchasing…
Date: October 24, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3276
Justia Opinion Summary: Zuppardi slipped and fell on the floor of a Wal-Mart store. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Wal-Mart, finding that Wal-Mart had not caused the puddle and did not have actual or constructive notice…
Date: October 23, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3037
Justia Opinion Summary: CBD designs and builds restaurants. Its client, Mongolian House, wanted to renovate an upscale Chicago restaurant called “Plan B.” CBD designed the interior and in 2006 filed blueprints to obtain a “repair and replace”…
Date: October 23, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3037
Justia Opinion Summary: Redbox operates automated self‐service kiosks at which customers rent DVDs and Blu‐ray discs with a debit or credit card. Redbox outsources certain functions to service providers, including Stream, which provides…
Date: October 23, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3376
Justia Opinion Summary: Esparza testified that he came to the U.S. in 1999 and returned to Mexico from late 2001 to early in 2002; again in late 2002; and finally early in 2008. In 2010 he was stopped for driving without a license, which led to…
Date: October 22, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3869
Justia Opinion Summary: Berrey was injured in an automobile accident at work. The at‐fault driver, who did not work with Berrey, carried liability insurance, but the cost of Berrey’s injuries exceeded the policy’s limit. Berrey received partial…
Date: October 22, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1097
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, nClosures and Block began a business relationship in which nClosures designed and Block manufactured metal enclosures for electronic tablets, such as iPads. The parties signed a confidentiality agreement;…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2604
Justia Opinion Summary: Sinclair was arrested for driving with a suspended license. The police found a loaded handgun, a distribution quantity of marijuana, and tools of the drug-trafficking trade in his car. Sinclair was indicted for…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3724
Justia Opinion Summary: Campbell recruited young women in the U.S. illegally, initially persuading the women to join his “Family” by offering comfortable places to live and jobs in massage parlors with no expectation that they perform sexual…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3920
Justia Opinion Summary: Milwaukee police responded to shots fired behind a residence and discovered Moody with a loaded pistol. Moody admitted that the gun was his. He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1).…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1559
Justia Opinion Summary: Horton, a 20-year-old karate instructor who used his iPhone to film himself sexually molesting three of his young students, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexually exploiting a child, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a). Horton’s…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1934
Justia Opinion Summary: Kolbusz owns and operates the Illinois Center for Dermatology and Skin Cancer and was a participating Medicare provider from 1993 until December 2012, receiving payment directly from Medicare. In October 2012 he was…
Date: October 21, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2115
Justia Opinion Summary: Rollins had driven into a store parking lot and gotten out of his car when a police officer emerged from a police car that had pulled up behind him and ordered him to get back into his car and show his driver’s license,…
Date: October 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2894
Justia Opinion Summary: Evansville detectives received a tip from Hutchinson that Hutchinson’s neighbor, Schmitt had acquired a semi-automatic assault rifle in exchange for $200 and two grams of methamphetamine. Hutchinson had arranged the deal…
Date: October 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3294
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois prisoner Wheeler sued the prison’s medical director, Dr. Talbot, for alleged deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, 42 U.S.C. 1983. Wheeler claims that he experiences excruciating pain from “large and…
Date: October 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3551
Justia Opinion Summary: A deputy stopped a truck in which Stacy was a passenger, knowing that Stacy and the driver had recently purchased notable quantities of pseudoephedrine pills from local pharmacies, possibly for use in manufacturing…
Date: October 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3780
Justia Opinion Summary: Campbell pleaded guilty in state court to first degree sexual assault of a child (his 10-year-old daughter). The maximum sentence was 60 years. The state agreed to dismiss three other counts and recommend a sentence of…
Date: October 20, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: Nayak owned outpatient surgery centers and made under-the-table payments to physicians that referred patients to his centers, including cash payments and payments to cover referring physicians’ advertising expenses.…
Date: October 16, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3249
Justia Opinion Summary: The Wiggintons receive Social Security disability benefits. They applied to Bank of America for a mortgage to be repaid using those benefits. The Bank asked for information from their physicians, or the SSA, showing that…
Date: October 16, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3661
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1981 the plaintiff began working as one of two hairdresser-manicurists at a nursing home. Mondays and Tuesdays the plaintiff would transport residents in their wheelchairs from their rooms to the nursing home’s beauty…
Date: October 16, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1663
Justia Opinion Summary: Whirlpool purchased injection-molded plastic knobs and decorative metal stampings from Grigoleit. In 1992 Whirlpool told Grigoleit that it would start using products made by Phillips. Grigoleit believed that Phillips was…
Date: October 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3602
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 complaining that during nine months while he was a pretrial detainee in a Porter County, Indiana jail he was denied medical care for a bullet wound to his abdomen, and other…
Date: October 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3613
Justia Opinion Summary: South Water Market and Local 703 of the Teamsters Union had a collective bargaining agreement that ran from 2004 through April 30, 2007. On September 12, 2007, they reached a new agreement. Abramson, Market’s bargaining…
Date: October 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3724
Justia Opinion Summary: After a sports-related injury, Bluestein, an M.D., took intermittent time off for several months, then requested open-ended leave. She was termnted and sued Central Wisconsin Anesthesiology, for discrimination in…
Date: October 14, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1449
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009 the doctor was hired by a small rural Wisconsin critical access hospital, as the director of its emergency room. Fired just months after being hired, he sued the hospital in under Title VII, claiming that the…
Date: October 9, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1051
Justia Opinion Summary: A 1991 judgment, not appealed, upheld a state statute prohibiting members of the Indian tribes from hunting deer at night outside the tribes’ reservations. Wisconsin Indians had hunted deer at night since before they had…
Date: October 8, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1453
Justia Opinion Summary: After Continental and United Air Lines merged, they needed to produce unified seniority and longevity rosters for pilots. The Air Line Pilots Association represents all of the pilots. In 2012 the new United and the Union…
Date: October 6, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1674
Justia Opinion Summary: On September 16, 2003, Matz and others were on the porch of a Milwaukee apartment when officers assigned to the warrant squad were driving through the area in an unmarked squad on an unrelated matter. On the porch they…
Date: October 6, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2059
Justia Opinion Summary: Since 2005 Indiana has required voters to present photographic identification at the polls. In 2008, the Supreme Court (Crawford decision) held that the statute is compatible with the Constitution. In 2011 Wisconsin…
Date: October 6, 2014
Docket Number: 14-8015
Justia Opinion Summary: Lodholtz, injured in 2011 while working at a Pulliam plant in Indiana, filed suit against Pulliam in state court. Pulliam asked Granite State, its insurer, to defend and indemnify. Granite State declined, believing that…
Date: October 3, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3397
Justia Opinion Summary: Edwards was pulled over on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle and the police found a sawed-off shotgun in the car. Moments before the stop, his girlfriend had called 911 to report that Edwards had just stolen her car.…
Date: October 2, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1699
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1987, two men were wrongfully convicted of arson and the brutal murders of two residents of Paris, Illinois and were sentenced to death. After years of pursuing post-conviction remedies, they were released in 2004 and…
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2291
Justia Opinion Summary: Gerdau leased a locomotive from Titan for use in switching at its Knoxville mill. Titan shipped the locomotive in 2008, but it was damaged in transit and sent for repair. It did not reach Gerdau’s plant until 2009.…
Date: September 30, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2058
Justia Opinion Summary: 2011 Wis. Act 23 required a photo ID for voting, similar to an Indiana law, which the Supreme Court upheld in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2008). After the district court enjoined enforcement of the law, the…
Date: September 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2725
Justia Opinion Summary: White Feather killed his cellmate, Running Bear, in their federal prison cell by disemboweling the victim using a disassembled Bic razor, having first choked him into unconsciousness during a late-night fight. White…
Date: September 26, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2353
Justia Opinion Summary: A removable alien who has lived in the U.S. for seven years (including five as a permanent resident) is entitled to seek cancellation of removal unless he has committed an “aggravated felony.” 8 U.S.C. 1229b(a)(3).…
Date: September 26, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3868
Justia Opinion Summary: Richardson, apparently a lawyer who has been suspended several times, incurred educational debt in 1988 but did not pay. Indiana University, the creditor, sued in 1998. Richardson filed a bankruptcy petition days before…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2436
Justia Opinion Summary: The Superfund Site encompasses the Lower Fox River and Green Bay, into which paper mills discharged PCBs until the 1970s, and is the subject of remedial efforts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2631
Justia Opinion Summary: The Superfund Site encompasses the Lower Fox River and Green Bay, into which paper mills discharged PCBs until the 1970s, and is the subject of remedial efforts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2737
Justia Opinion Summary: DHS initiated removal proceedings, charging Antia with removability under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) as an alien present without being admitted or paroled and alleging that Antia had been convicted of “indecent liberties…
Date: September 25, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3581
Justia Opinion Summary: Springfield has an ordinance that prohibits panhandling in its “downtown historic district”—less than 2% of the city’s area but containing its principal shopping, entertainment, and governmental areas, including the…
Date: September 24, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2718
Justia Opinion Summary: Diggs pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50+ grams of crack cocaine and 500+ grams of powder cocaine; he admitted that he supplied wholesale quantities to co-defendants. The district court accepted…
Date: September 24, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2006
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal district judge issued an injunction that blocks the State of Wisconsin from conducting a judicially supervised criminal investigation into whether certain persons have violated the state’s campaign-finance…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1241
Justia Opinion Summary: United Airlines contracts for regional air services under the “United Express” brand. One such supplier owns Trans States and GoJet Airlines. Cuff was on the payroll of Trans States, working at O’Hare Airport. He was…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2551
Justia Opinion Summary: “Jane Doe” was born in Russia and came to the U.S. at age two when she was adopted by American parents. During her sixth and seventh grade years, male classmates bullied her, sometimes hurling gendered or ethnic insults.…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1658
Justia Opinion Summary: The Seventh Circuit consolidated class action appeals filed under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), 15 U.S.C. 1681c(g), which provides that “no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards ...…
Date: September 19, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2123
Justia Opinion Summary: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires almost everyone to have health insurance and is enforced by a tax that most businesses must pay if they fail to provide insurance as a benefit, or that anyone not…
Date: September 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3713
Date: September 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3004
Justia Opinion Summary: While a student at University of Wisconsin in 1969, Soglin attended the first Mifflin Street Block Party. Now in his seventh term as Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, Soglin wants to shut down the annual event. For the 2012…
Date: September 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3174
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeudy entered the U.S. from Haiti in 1980 without inspection. He became a lawful permanent resident in 1989. In 2009, the government charged him as removable based on his 1995 guilty plea to attempted possession of crack…
Date: September 15, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2093
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998 Kashamu, a dual citizen of Nigeria and Benin, was charged as the leader of a conspiracy to import and distribute heroin. Kashamu never entered the U.S. His location was unknown. The government did not ask that he…
Date: September 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1524
Justia Opinion Summary: McDowell, Cooper, and others were charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute one kilogram or more of hero-in in Rockford, Illinois. McDowell was also charged with six counts of…
Date: September 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1557
Justia Opinion Summary: Zuniga was arrested for pointing a gun at his ex-girlfriend outside a bar and was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing cocaine. Both the speaker and the person who heard the speaker’s…
Date: September 11, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1270
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000 the SEC charged First Choice and others with fraud. The district court appointed a receiver to take charge of the defendants’ assets for victims of the $31 million fraud. The receiver found that some assets had…
Date: September 11, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2284
Date: September 10, 2014
Docket Number: 11-3572
Justia Opinion Summary: Satkar owns Schaumburg, Illinois hotel and was mentioned in blog posts and a television news report as having made a large donation to a local politician and later won a property-tax appeal. In response, the Cook County…
Date: September 10, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2206
Justia Opinion Summary: Moultrie, who began working at Penn Aluminum in southern Illinois in1990 and held various positions, was demoted from his position as a forklift operator in 2009. Before his demotion, he had filed a grievance concerning…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1723
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, after coworkers made offensive comments, orally and in graffiti, about Muhammad’s race and perceived sexual orientation, Muhammad complained to management. Caterpillar responded. Walls were repainted and…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1542
Justia Opinion Summary: A Chester, Illinois grain bin exploded, injuring three workers. A jury awarded almost $180 million in compensatory and punitive damages against ConAgra, which owned the facility, part of a flour mill, and West Side,…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2050
Justia Opinion Summary: Washington Group, an engineering, construction and management services company, offered Abraham a position as a “lead scheduler” for a project in Wisconsin. After negotiations, Washington Group sent Abraham a letter…
Date: September 9, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3161
Justia Opinion Summary: Harper was arrested, under a warrant for a parole violation, in the back house bedroom on a two-house property. Agents recovered a loaded pistol from under the nightstand and suspected cocaine base from the top of that…
Date: September 8, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1124
Justia Opinion Summary: A government informant bought cocaine and heroin from Davis. Davis expressed an interest in robbery; the informant introduced him to an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, posing…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3819
Justia Opinion Summary: Durham, Cochran, and Snow took control of Fair Finance Company, a previously well-established and respected business, and used money invested in Fair to support their lavish lifestyles and to fund loans to related…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1995
Justia Opinion Summary: Because of inaccurate information about time served in the county jail for two theft convictions, Armanto’s release date was recalculated. After receiving orders from the court that entered his convictions and concerned…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3385
Justia Opinion Summary: Khan is a Mohajir: his parents were immigrants into Pakistan when it was partitioned from the British Indian Empire in 1947. Some Mohajirs formed a political party—the Mohajir Qaumi Movement—in response to perceived…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3836
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a 25-year-old woman of 25, was denied Supplemental Security Income benefits. She claims to be mentally retarded and to suffer from knee and hip pain in one leg, caused by a defect in the hip joint resulting…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2386
Justia Opinion Summary: The Seventh Circuit affirmed district court decisions invalidating Indiana and Wisconsin laws that did not recognize the validity of same-sex marriages, whether contracted in those states or in states (or foreign…
Date: September 4, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2526
Justia Opinion Summary: The Seventh Circuit affirmed district court decisions invalidating Indiana and Wisconsin laws that did not recognize the validity of same-sex marriages, whether contracted in those states or in states (or foreign…
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1165
Justia Opinion Summary: After being caught establishing a fraudulent worker’s compensation insurance program, , Neal was convicted of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1343, and sentenced to 327 months’ imprisonment. He is incarcerated in Terre Haute,…
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1458
Justia Opinion Summary: Contending that a guard had assaulted him during a pat-down by inserting a finger in his anus, inmate Rivera filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983. Drake, the guard, moved to dismiss because Rivera had failed to exhaust…
Date: September 3, 2014
Docket Number: 14-2004
Justia Opinion Summary: At a supervised release revocation hearing, the key substantive evidence against Jordan was a report prepared by a Texas State Trooper (Wilson) who arrested Jordan after a traffic stop. His report said that Jordan had…
Date: September 2, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1264
Justia Opinion Summary: The Indiana Right to Work Act became law in 2012 and provides that: A person may not require an individual to: Become or remain a member of a labor organization; Pay dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1340
Justia Opinion Summary: Olendzki is a psychologist at an Illinois state prison. After he was elected to his union’s Executive Board, Olendzki began to advocate for fellow union members and to voice concerns to management. Olendzki believes that…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2210
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3388
Justia Opinion Summary: The Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401, allows each state to craft a state implementation plan to control the levels of certain air pollutants. Most state plans include “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” (PSD)…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1796
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004 Miller was charged with First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child. Miller entered a plea of no contest and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2006, Miller filed notice of intent to pursue post-conviction…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2102
Justia Opinion Summary: Brown began his employment with BNSF railroad in 1996 and progressed through jobs as a foreman, track inspector, and machine operator. In 2007 a family physician diagnosed Brown with carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2892
Justia Opinion Summary: Twenty three members of the Almighty Latin Kings Nation were indicted, prosecuted, and sentenced for their roles in a major drug trafficking ring, linked 19 homicides. Anaya did not appeal his conviction but challenged…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3489
Justia Opinion Summary: Steak n Shake owns and operates 415 restaurants and grants about 100 franchises for the operation of Steak n Shake restaurants by others. The operators of franchises in Missouri, Georgia, and Pennsylvania claim that…
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3490
Date: August 29, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3491
Date: August 28, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1415
Justia Opinion Summary: Chicago police saw Chapman carrying a bag with what looked like the barrel of a rifle protruding from it. As officers approached, Chapman ducked into an abandoned duplex. An officer followed Chapman and saw him drop the…
Date: August 28, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3670
Justia Opinion Summary: Brothers Daniel and John owned four companies that offered remodeling services to homeowners. They provided honest work on construction jobs for cash customers, but duped numerous people into refinancing their homes and…
Date: August 27, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3601
Justia Opinion Summary: Scrogham, then age 53, applied for disability benefits under the Social Security Act, submitting medical conditions including degenerative discs, spinal stenosis, sleep apnea, hypertension, arthritis, atrial fibrillation…
Date: August 27, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3649
Justia Opinion Summary: The family of Johnson’s girlfriend told police that after an argument, Johnson had returned to their home, wearing all black and pointing a gun. Johnson was not present when police arrived at the home, searched the…
Date: August 26, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3731
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Smith, serving a 90-year sentence for murder, walked behind another inmate and stabbed him several times with scissors. The victim required surgery and was in the hospital for 12 days. The attack was observed by…
Date: August 25, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3332
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999 Carroll was convicted in Illinois of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 28 years in prison. He obtained post-conviction relief and was resentenced, to 26 years. Neither the judge at sentencing nor the…
Date: August 22, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2617
Justia Opinion Summary: The Plaintiffs sued Payday Financial, Webb, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and other entities associated with Webb, alleging violations of civil and criminal statutes related to loans that they had…
Date: August 22, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2654
Justia Opinion Summary: After his employment with the town was terminated, the plaintiff sought benefits under the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act. The town opposed his claim, arguing that he was ineligible for unemployment benefits because…
Date: August 22, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3843
Justia Opinion Summary: Before the patents expired (2012) for the individual coffee pods used in Keurig coffeemakers, defendants wanted to enter the market for Keurig‐compatible pods. In 2010 they introduced a product that used the external…
Date: August 21, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1821
Justia Opinion Summary: The Developer converted a vacant building into a residential condominium by gutting and refitting it. The Developer purchased Commercial Lines Policies covering bodily injury and property damage from Nautilus, covering…
Date: August 21, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2256
Justia Opinion Summary: After leaving Gensler, an architectural firm with projects throughout the world, where he had been a Design Director, Strabala opened his own firm, 2Define Architecture. Strabala stated online that he had designed five…
Date: August 21, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3300
Justia Opinion Summary: Ramirez, a citizen of Guatemala, was admitted to the U.S. as a permanent resident in 1977, then seven years old. He has remained in the U.S. After three years of high school, he joined the Marine Corps. He later obtained…
Date: August 21, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3354
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008-2009 Scalzo was a bank officer at two institutions. He originated and approved loans for unqualified borrowers without adequate financial information or collateral. He forged borrowers’ signatures, redirected…
Date: August 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1626
Justia Opinion Summary: The herbicide atrazine is banned in the European Union but widely used in the U.S. Municipalities and water boards charged with filtering public drinking supplies sued Syngenta, which manufactures and distributes the…
Date: August 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1936
Justia Opinion Summary: Two nurses, formerly employed by Momence, alleged that, during their employment at Momence, they uncovered evidence that Momence knowingly submitted "thousands of false claims to the Medicare and Medicaid programs” in…
Date: August 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3297
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis, a nurse and assistant professor of nursing at Chicago State University, ran several public health programs aimed at improving the health care of the African-American community. As program director for the Chicago…
Date: August 20, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3527
Justia Opinion Summary: On the way into a Milwaukee store, Banks’s associate Warren asked him to hold a revolver. Banks put it in his waistband. Once inside, Warren negotiated the sale of the guns for $1,000 to an undercover ATF agent who was…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1812
Justia Opinion Summary: Vance, Marshall, and Bluford were charged with two 2007 Chicago bank robberies, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a), and related crimes, such as conspiring to rob the banks. Vance also was charged with killing a person during the…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2230
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois insurance regulators permitted WellPoint to acquire RightCHOICE health insurance. WellPoint caused RightCHOICE Insurance to withdraw from the Illinois market. WellPoint offered the policyholders costlier UniCare…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2760
Justia Opinion Summary: Rucker, Alvarez, and others were charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and other narcotics offenses. Rucker pled guilty attempting to possess, with the intent to distribute, two kilograms of…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2905
Justia Opinion Summary: Moore went out to steal a car, armed with a loaded semiautomatic pistol. He had been offered $5,000 for a high-end automobile. Seeing Heliotis getting into a BMW, Moore approached the open driver’s window, and, according…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3700
Justia Opinion Summary: Petkus owns a property that she operated as an animal sanctuary until 2009, when an investigation by the ASPCA resulted in a search of her property, termination of her employment as Richland County dogcatcher, her arrest…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3729
Justia Opinion Summary: An MRI had revealed plaintiff’s herniated disc in 1998. The medical record is blank from then until 2007, when she complained to an emergency room physician that she had been suffering from lower-back pain. She mentioned…
Date: August 19, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1792
Justia Opinion Summary: Former employees of an Indiana city sued the mayor and the city under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming that the mayor had fired them because of their political affiliations, in violation of their First Amendment rights. The…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 11-2288
Justia Opinion Summary: The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI conducted an investigation of a suspected cocaine-distribution organization, employing various investigative techniques, including interviews of confidential…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1104
Justia Opinion Summary: Gomez was convicted of drug-related crimes and sentenced to concurrent 84-month terms. A panel of the Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments concerning admission of evidence of his possession of cocaine weeks…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1268
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, including Adame were charged with drug conspiracy and cocaine distribution. Adame was also charged with illegal reentry of a previously deported alien following conviction for an aggravated felony. With a…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1004
Justia Opinion Summary: When purchasing a house, the defendants submitted loan documents containing false incomes and bank statements, and failed to disclose that husband’s company was selling and his wife was buying. The company received…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1378
Justia Opinion Summary: Vargas and Salinas were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana (21 U.S.C. 841 and 846), and two counts each of using telephones in furtherance of the conspiracy (21 U.S.C. 843(b)).Vargas…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1741
Justia Opinion Summary: Harris was charged with identity theft. During voir dire the judge introduced himself and explained the process to the potential juror pool. After the deputy swore the jury in, the judge stated: To protect people’s…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2165
Justia Opinion Summary: Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Graber worked at the Milwaukee County jail and was vice president of the union. A child was killed when a concrete slab fell from a county park structure. Captain Meverden was the incident…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3285
Justia Opinion Summary: To compensate teaching hospitals for the extra financial burden of providing training, the Medicare program provides additional reimbursement for expenses beyond the immediate costs of patient care, including for…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3391
Justia Opinion Summary: Hansen’s employer has an attendance policy, under which employees accumulate points for unexcused absences. When an employee incurs 10 points within a year, his employment is subject to termination. Leave under the…
Date: August 18, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3423
Justia Opinion Summary: McDowell alleges that, after work, he met friends at a bar. They stayed until the bar’s 4:00 a.m. closing time. They exited the front door and were confronted by other individuals, including an off-duty police officer. …
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2972
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois legalized riverboat casino gambling in 1990. Since then, the state’s once‐thriving horseracing industry has declined. In 2006 and 2008, former Governor Blagojevich signed into law two bills that imposed a tax…
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3378
Justia Opinion Summary: SFG, a Texas firm specializing in distressed‐asset investing, bought a loan portfolio from McFarland State Bank for $1.27 million (28.8% of the face value of the debt). Materials provided by McFarland’s agent indicated…
Date: August 15, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3678
Justia Opinion Summary: KDC had cash flow problems and, in 2004, hired Johnson. Johnson retained the law firm (GPM) of his acquaintance, Tenenbaum. GPM sent KDC an engagement letter that included conflict‐waiver language regarding Johnson and a…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 12-1598
Justia Opinion Summary: Socha was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in 2002. He simultaneously pursued direct appeal and state post-conviction relief. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed; the state supreme court denied review…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2762
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Coleman pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute 121.989 grams of crack cocaine, which subjected him to a statutory imprisonment range of five to 40 years. With past convictions for possession with…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3104
Justia Opinion Summary: Fletcher pled guilty to one count of producing, two counts of receiving, and two counts of possessing child pornography, over a seven-year period. The district court sentenced him to a 30-year term of imprisonment,…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3474
Justia Opinion Summary: Irwin, a holding company, entered bankruptcy when its two subsidiary banks failed. The FDIC closed both in 2009. Their asset portfolios were dominated by mortgage loans, whose value plunged in 2007-2008. Irwin’s trustee…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1515
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas and Chapman were part of a scheme to fleece real estate lenders by concocting multiple false sales of the same homes and using the loan proceeds from the later transactions to pay off the earlier lenders. They…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2337
Justia Opinion Summary: Fortres develops and sells a desktop management program called “Clean Slate” and holds a federally-registered trademark for use of that name to identify “[c]omputer software used to protect public access computers by…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2379
Justia Opinion Summary: King was in custody awaiting a probable cause determination in 2007. After being rapidly tapered off psychotropic medication by jail medical staff, complaining of seizure-like symptoms, and being placed in an isolated…
Date: August 14, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3636
Justia Opinion Summary: Moon was a 26-year-old mother who had worked as a cashier, bank teller, and certified nursing assistant. She suffered from documented back and joint problems, mild sleep apnea, depression, and migraine headaches. Most of…
Date: August 13, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2676
Justia Opinion Summary: Spencer stopped paying her mortgage in 2008. In Wisconsin state court foreclosure proceedings, Spencer’s attorney, Nora, adopted an “object-to-everything litigation strategy and buried the state court in a blizzard of…
Date: August 13, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1177
Justia Opinion Summary: Walton was a passenger in a rented Suburban driven by Smoot, when they were pulled over by an Illinois state trooper. According to the trooper, the two were nervous and gave an implausible description of their travel…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 12-2739
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence after being convicted of charges stemming from his involvement in a document-fraud operation that made fake Chinese passports and other identification documents. Defendant challenged the…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1659
Justia Opinion Summary: Black Beauty contested a citation issued by an inspector of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, but the ALJ upheld the citation. Black Beauty now petitions for review of the ALJ's order again upholding the…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1766
Justia Opinion Summary: After Janet Hahn died of diabetic ketoacidosis when she was a pretrial detainee at a correctional center, her husband and the administrator of her estate filed suit alleging that various government officials and private…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1985
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a police officer, filed suit against the City and the police deputy superintendent who had ordered him to be processed criminally for allegedly driving his personal vehicle while drinking alcohol. A…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2405
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen and native of Mexico, appealed the BIA's affirmance of the IJ's denial of his application for cancellation of removal. The court held that the courts of appeal lack jurisdiction to review the denial…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2677
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon. Defendant's deadline for filing a notice of appeal was July 22, 2013. On July 17, he filed a motion to reconsider his sentence. By…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2860
Justia Opinion Summary: Goodwill filed suit against PNC seeking a declaratory judgment that it does not owe a prepayment charge in excess of $300,000 under the terms of its agreement with PNC. The court affirmed the district court's conclusion…
Date: August 12, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3505
Justia Opinion Summary: Jitka Vesel was shot with a handgun that was illegally purchased by Demetry Smirnov who found the weapon available for purchase on Armslist.com, a website that facilitates the sale of guns between private owners.…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1422
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a wrongful death action against Union Pacific in state court after his parents were killed when a Union Pacific train derailed and caused a bridge to collapse. Union Pacific removed to federal court based…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2515
Justia Opinion Summary: The State appealed for the second time the district court's grant of petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254. On remand, the district court held that petitioner's trial attorney rendered…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2771
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the City and law enforcement officers, alleging that plaintiff's arrest was not supported by probable cause. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that the district…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2857
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon, appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2241. Petitioner was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3851
Justia Opinion Summary: The Union filed suit against a nuclear energy facility to compel arbitration after a union employee was discharged without just cause. The court reversed the district court's denial of the Union's motion to compel…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3871
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a putative class action against United, alleging that United breached the terms of its frequent-flyer program. Plaintiff argued that United breached the program contract by crediting him for mileage…
Date: August 11, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1428
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 2671 et seq., after he was attacked by a fellow prisoner which resulted in blindness in one eye and serious impairment in the…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2433
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against her employer, alleging claims of retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. Plaintiff also alleged that her employer and several managers retaliated…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2633
Justia Opinion Summary: CEnergy filed suit against Glenmore claiming a denial of its right under the Fourteenth Amendment to substantive due process and a violation of the town's state law obligation to deal in good faith. While CEnergy…
Date: August 7, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3846
Justia Opinion Summary: Edmund Carman died after crashing his car into the back of a commercial pickup truck. His estate filed suit alleging state negligence claims in federal district court against the truck's driver (Daniel Tinkes), the…
Date: August 6, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1085
Justia Opinion Summary: Hayssen and its employees were parties to a Plant Closing Agreement that promised medical benefits upon retirement. In 1996, Bemis acquired Hayssen and assumed its obligations. Bemis reduced benefits under the Agreement:…
Date: August 5, 2014
Docket Number: 11-2906
Justia Opinion Summary: Before entering his mother’s wedding reception, Miller smoked marijuana. At the reception, Miller drank three shots of vodka in an hour and a half. Miller then dropped off his girlfriend and went to a Kenosha bar. He…
Date: August 5, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2864
Justia Opinion Summary: Albu, a Romanian citizen, applied for asylum in 2003. His application would have been deficient in a number of ways, but at the prompting of his attorney (who was subsequently convicted of asylum fraud) he engaged in…
Date: August 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1252
Justia Opinion Summary: Boley sought Social Security disability benefits. The agency denied her request initially and on reconsideration. A person dissatisfied with such a decision has 60 days to request a hearing. Boley took about nine months…
Date: August 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1554
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Light was convicted in Minnesota district court of firearm possession by a felon. The presentence report suggested that Light was subject the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The PSR referred to two…
Date: August 4, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3921
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012 the Drug Enforcement Administration seized over $110,000 worth of smokable “incense products” from the Smoke Shop, a Delavan, Wisconsin retailer. At the time of seizure, the DEA believed that the incense…
Date: August 4, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1022
Justia Opinion Summary: Langenbach began stocking shelves for Wal-Mart in 1998. The next year, she was promoted. In 2001, she was again promoted. Langenbach was admitted to Wal-Mart’s Management-In-Training program in 2008. In her first…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 12-3365
Justia Opinion Summary: Ashburn was convicted in Illinois state court of the first degree murder of Muckenstrum. After appealing his conviction and filing a collateral challenge in Illinois state court, Ashburn filed a habeas corpus petition in…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: FBI surveillance of Terre Haute neighbors Denny and Miller included recording activities of those homes, using a camera mounted on a utility pole. The camera captured a live feed, but skipped every few seconds and did…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1978
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis and others were indicted for conspiracy to distribute 280 or more grams of crack cocaine between 2008 and 2010, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846. Later, Davis was charged in an information for conspiracy…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-2831
Justia Opinion Summary: JAB designs, manufactures, and sells men’s clothing and accessories and has 31 Illinois retail locations. In July 2012, Camasta went to the Deer Park JAB store. Before making his purchases, Camasta contends that he saw…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3351
Justia Opinion Summary: After being acquitted in a state court of aggravated battery, the plaintiff sued two Chicago police officers and the City of Chicago, under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for malicious prosecution. He claimed that the officers had…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1049
Justia Opinion Summary: Webster was convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to death. His guilt is not contested. At trial Webster introduced evidence from experts who concluded that his IQ is less than 70 and that he is retarded. The…
Date: August 1, 2014
Docket Number: 14-1067
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis retained Fenton to represent her in a home foreclosure proceeding. Davis later sued Fenton for malpractice. Davis claimed that, although she paid Fenton several thousand dollars, he did virtually nothing to help…
Date: July 31, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3801
Justia Opinion Summary: Lightspeed operates online pornography sites and sued a defendant, identified only Internet Protocol address, which was allegedly associated with unlawful viewing of Lightspeed’s content, using a “hacked” password.…
Date: July 31, 2014
Docket Number: 13-3917
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1994, Maranda exposed himself to a six‐year‐old girl, then exposed himself to a drive-through window cashier and attempted to pull her into his car. He pleaded guilty to public indecency and was sentenced to home…
Date: July 30, 2014
Docket Number: 13-1566
Justia Opinion Summary: Employers that withdraw from underfunded multiemployer pension plans must pay their share of the shortfall. They can seek recalculation of the plans' assessment within 90 days, 29 U.S.C. 1399(b)(2)(A), and within another…
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